“Cut her loose and let her get to the boy,” one of the men ordered.

The cop on top of Bleu relieved her of the cuffs, and she quickly rushed to Messari, picking him up and pushing his head over her shoulder. The cops forced Messiah to his feet.

“Where are you taking him?” Bleu demanded as she followed behind them frantically. The rest of the unit was tearing the apartment apart, searching, hunting.

“Get my kids, Bleu!” Messiah shouted.

His voice carried into the night as they walked him to the awaiting squad car and pulled away.

Bella sat in the driveway, shotgun in Henny’s old school.

“My daddy’s going to kill you if he catches you here this late,” Bella said, smiling because she loved the fact that he was willing to take the risk.

“I’m in and out. I just wanted to see you, smart girl, before I called it a night,” Hendrix stated.

Bella smiled and looked out her window, up at her house. “Well, you saw me,” she said as she rolled pretty brown eyes back over to Hendrix.

“You took that test you was telling me about? The ACT and shit?” Hendrix asked.

“It was just a practice test,” Bella answered.

“How you do?” Hendrix asked.

“I did okay,” she said. “It was hella hard, and I was super nervous. I need at least a 23 to get into Clark.”

“You got it,” Henny stated.

“I heard you were around the way with Isa. They said you helped him shoot up a house,” Bella said.

“Man,” Henny said as he rolled his gaze out the side window. “Tell whoever the fuck ‘they’ is to keep my name out they mouth.”

“Did you?” Bella asked.

“I got to put in work when it’s my turn. I’m getting money with the Crew. I can’t bitch up when it’s time to get my hands dirty,” Henny said.

“You promised, Henny,” Bella reminded, voice dipped in sadness. The expectation that Hendrix just may self-destruct broke her heart. Ethic’s daughter had been bitten by the love bug. She had been close friends with Hendrix for two years. She admired his resilience. She respected the things he had survived. Hendrix made her feel as if she were the therapy that eased his traumatized heart. He was her best friend, and they had a plan. He had made promises to stay out of trouble so that when she went away to college, he could leave too. He was deviating from the plan. He was taking risks that would derail things altogether, and Bella’s heart ached. He had a job at Ethic’s shop. She didn’t understand why he was determined to mess that up. “Does my dad know you’re still in the game? You don’t need to do that stuff. He will help you with money and everything.”